Runaway Russian Teenager Hides in Landing Gear of Plane

A 17-year-old runaway who hid in a plane's landing gear in Siberia, Russia survived a 50-minute flight.

The stowaway was wearing only a light coat when he crawled into a space above the wheel of a Soviet-built Antonov An-24 turboprop in the airfield of a small town in Russia. As the flight made its way to Irkutsk, the boy experienced temperatures of minus 30 Fahrenheit.

According to a report by the Associated Press, investigators said the teenager had fled a foster home. TV reports said he robbed a nearby store before hiding in the landing gear of the plane.

Several reports said the teenager is being treated for frostbite.

This is not the first time someone has sneaked into the landing gear of a plane. Earlier this year a Romanian man flew from Vienna to London in the landing gear of a Boeing 747 and survived. In another instance in 2007, the body of a man who is believed to have fallen out when landing gear was deployed was found near a runway in Moscow.

On a previous occasion, a young man from Perm in Russia's Ural Mountains climbed into the landing gear of a plane for a flight to Moscow. Although he survived, he was hospitalized with severe hypothermia.